ln May last year, I wrote a post titled "Desire for Better Pizza" and said I was looking at getting a pizza oven. Well, over a year later and I have purchased an Ooni Karu 2 Pro Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven. As is the case with some of my other large purchases from Amazon, I decided to buy it when they had one of their huge sales events. One other reason I like to buy from Amazon is their interest free financing for a year. I usually pay it off early, but I like the idea of being able to shift things around without an interest penalty if an emergency comes up.
Accessories
When buying one of these pizza ovens, you have to think about how you will use it. I wanted this particular model so that I could use gas, wood and/or coal. This gives me a lot of options, but I did want to use gas, so I had to add Ooni Karu 2 Pro Gas Burner (propane). I already had a pizza peal that I purchased in 2013 (CounterArt Bamboo Pizza Peel) and it still works fine. I did add a pizza turner, but I would not recommend the one I bought because it is not dishwasher friendly. I also bought an infrared thermometer to measure stone heat. Note: the Kuru has an app that works with bluetooth so you can see the oven temperature on your phone. Very nice for when I am prepping pizza inside. However, this is not the best indication of stone temps, so an infrared thermometer is almost a necessity. The bluetooth device under the door also has a separate input for a food thermometer, but I have not tested that out yet. However, that will come in handy for chicken.
Unfortunately, we didn't have a great spot to put the oven, so for now, I added a Feasto Pizza Oven Cart. The Kuru is long, so it faces the end rather than the front of the cart, but I like the way the two work together and the cart gives me a place to hang my Propane tank and a couple shelves for storage. While I would love to add an outdoor kitchen (some prefab units can accommodate this oven in a corner), I am trying to decide if the upscale in looks and some functionality can make up for the large price tag of such a unit when my current outdoor setup is functional?
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Unfortunately, we didn't have a great spot to put the oven, so for now, I added a Feasto Pizza Oven Cart. The Kuru is long, so it faces the end rather than the front of the cart, but I like the way the two work together and the cart gives me a place to hang my Propane tank and a couple shelves for storage. While I would love to add an outdoor kitchen (some prefab units can accommodate this oven in a corner), I am trying to decide if the upscale in looks and some functionality can make up for the large price tag of such a unit when my current outdoor setup is functional?
Note: I may get paid commissions for purchases made through any links to Amazon products on this page and website.
Making the Pizza
As I mentioned in my "Desire for Better Pizza" article, I do not like making dough. I think I will make dough in the future to try different mixtures, but to get started, I paid $99 for Ooni's dough. It is 24 balls that are premade and frozen. I was actually surprised by how well they worked. If you put them in the fridge to thaw for 24 hours or so, you can then pull it out of the fridge and let it get to room temperature in about 2 hours (you can also sit the dough out after removing from ice box for 5 hours, but I think the dough is easier to manage using the overnight method).
To house the dough in the refrigerator, you can put it in a covered bowl, but I bought "Stackable Silicone Artisan Pizza Dough Proofing containers with lids". I just tried this on my last pizza and they work great! I like the silicon material since you can just turn the bowl inside out to get to your dough. I would probably look for some heat resistant gloves, as well. I have a pair, but will grab some of these when they wear out.
You will probably want to get a bristled brush for cleaning up, too. I got the Aolso Pizza Oven Brush, 21" Brush and Stainless Steel Scraper for Pizza Stone.
To house the dough in the refrigerator, you can put it in a covered bowl, but I bought "Stackable Silicone Artisan Pizza Dough Proofing containers with lids". I just tried this on my last pizza and they work great! I like the silicon material since you can just turn the bowl inside out to get to your dough. I would probably look for some heat resistant gloves, as well. I have a pair, but will grab some of these when they wear out.
You will probably want to get a bristled brush for cleaning up, too. I got the Aolso Pizza Oven Brush, 21" Brush and Stainless Steel Scraper for Pizza Stone.
Cooking with Wood/Coal
I had some lump coal from Amazon, but I know people can be particular about coal, so I hesitate to recommend anything because I have tried several with my Big Green Egg and they all work fine. Some have more dust and random junk in them, but I still just get the cheapest and haven't been disappointed yet. I also got some wood (my preference, other than gas, is a coal/wood combo). For the wood, I got the Old Potters kiln dried wood logs and they worked without an issue. I also grabbed some fire starters. Finally, I got an off brand cover for the oven to keep it looking good.
How does it cook?
So far, my only big issue is having a pizza stick to the peel and end up looking more like a calzone. So, if we are going to load up our pizza with olives, mushrooms, tomatoes, pepperoni, etc., I will use parchment paper to make the transfer from peel to stone. This fixes the sticking issue (a trick I learned when I made them on the Big Green Egg). I usually let it heat up and on the first turn of the pizza, I will lift up the corner of the pizza and pull out the paper with a gloved hand. It works every time. For just your regular one topping or cheese pizza, I will just put extra flour on the peel and shake it a few times to be sure it's not sticking. That works, as well. My prep area is in the house and my oven is currently a bit of a walk outside, so things could get sticky, so would rather play it safe than sorry.
When cooking the pizza, with gas or the wood combo, you have to get used to it and see what you like. My first few pizzas come off a little scorched because I would just leave the heat up to 100 percent. This is fine if you don't mind scorching. I like a little scorching to know that my pizza is done, but I have started turning down the oven when I put the pizza in and turn it up at the end if I still need to finish melting cheese.
Below is a pizza that is a little more scorched than I would like on the left side. I ate those burned pieces and they aren't as bad as they look. As Cook's magazine said in a recent article "those tiny little colors of black really define for me what a Neapolitan Pizza is". Describing it as "bitter char".
When cooking the pizza, with gas or the wood combo, you have to get used to it and see what you like. My first few pizzas come off a little scorched because I would just leave the heat up to 100 percent. This is fine if you don't mind scorching. I like a little scorching to know that my pizza is done, but I have started turning down the oven when I put the pizza in and turn it up at the end if I still need to finish melting cheese.
Below is a pizza that is a little more scorched than I would like on the left side. I ate those burned pieces and they aren't as bad as they look. As Cook's magazine said in a recent article "those tiny little colors of black really define for me what a Neapolitan Pizza is". Describing it as "bitter char".
Below is a look at the crust from the side. It has a crisp crust with a puffy soft pillow of pie inside.
The pizza below was made with a wood/coal fire. It was done about right for my tastes with just enough char to taste, but not so much that it overwhelms. It is a delicate balance because the worst thing is undercooked pizza.
Gas vs Coal/Wood
I just wanted to mention the difference between these two for people on the fence about going with a grill that does one or the other. My preferred method, after a few cooks, is gas. Why? It is easier to control the heat. You have some control of wood/coal, but once you get that fire blazing, making it drop down quickly isn't something you can do. If you have rain on the schedule for the evening, I would go with gas if you want to cover up the grill after it cool down. In my experience, it takes longer for the grill to dissipate heat with coal. In fact, next time I cook with coal, I am going to try to have a few other things ready to go on the grill to take advantage of the heat rather than just letting it burn off. I am looking for other recipes, but I have seen bread, steaks, chicken, apples, veggies, etc used in the oven, so will definitely have something prepared.
I should. also mention that when you cook with coal, it will make it harder to see the pizza cooking due to suet building up on the glass door (referring to the Kuru specifically). This also means longer clean up times, to get the grill cleaned out and the glass cleaned off. Not a huge deal, but it's just more time and effort. I was a little surprised how easy it was to get a fire going, though. I started mine off with coal on the bottom and a couple wood sticks on top. Then waited 15 minutes and dropped in a bit more coal and a couple more sticks. That is all it took. I was hovering over 800 in less than an hour...not really a lot more time than gas. When you put sticks in, you want to give them a little time to burn before putting your pizza in. After I refilled, I went back in and made the pizza and was ready to go by the time I got back out there.
That being said, I didn't notice much difference in taste between the pizzas. I left a bit more crust on my first (and only) wood/coal run to make sure I could have enough bread to judge. So with that being said, I will mainly be using the gas unless I want to also make chicken or something that might be able to pull in a little more wood fire flavor, thanks to being in the oven a little longer than pizza.
While I do prefer gas, I do like the different options with wood/coal, so I am happy I got the unit that does both.
I should. also mention that when you cook with coal, it will make it harder to see the pizza cooking due to suet building up on the glass door (referring to the Kuru specifically). This also means longer clean up times, to get the grill cleaned out and the glass cleaned off. Not a huge deal, but it's just more time and effort. I was a little surprised how easy it was to get a fire going, though. I started mine off with coal on the bottom and a couple wood sticks on top. Then waited 15 minutes and dropped in a bit more coal and a couple more sticks. That is all it took. I was hovering over 800 in less than an hour...not really a lot more time than gas. When you put sticks in, you want to give them a little time to burn before putting your pizza in. After I refilled, I went back in and made the pizza and was ready to go by the time I got back out there.
That being said, I didn't notice much difference in taste between the pizzas. I left a bit more crust on my first (and only) wood/coal run to make sure I could have enough bread to judge. So with that being said, I will mainly be using the gas unless I want to also make chicken or something that might be able to pull in a little more wood fire flavor, thanks to being in the oven a little longer than pizza.
While I do prefer gas, I do like the different options with wood/coal, so I am happy I got the unit that does both.
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